The invention is directed to a carrier particularly adapted to be transported by a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, a truck, or the like, which houses a golf club bag and a set of golf clubs.
Typical of carriers of the type to which the present invention is directed are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,352 to Rick L. Mullen entitled Multi-Mode Golf Bag Travel System and U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,203 issued to Jane Burns and entitled Golf Bag and Cart Carrier. Each of the latter patents, but particularly the patent to Mullen, discloses a system designed to carry a golf bag and set of golf clubs with each system utilizing a relatively rigid carrier and hitch assembly for connection to a vehicle hitch. Though the Mullen disclosure is perhaps the most pertinent to the invention disclosed and claimed herein, it is exceedingly complicated, costly to produce, and is of questionable marketability. The one-piece carrier of Burns is constructed from a shell of relatively hard rugged plastic material and includes a tubular member having a lower end which can be connected to tubular stubs of the vehicle hitch assembly. Other costly and complicated travel cases or carriers which were found during a prior art search of the present invention and are listed hereinafter as follows:
5,038,983Tomososki5,310,100Liscinsky5,439,151Clayton5,547,116Eckhart5,586,702Sadler5,862,966Mehis6,036,070Gauthier et al.6,039,227Stark6,105,843Dollesin6,398,290 B1Williams et al.6,471,104 B1Janek2003/0015562 A1Jones
Though there is clearly a great demand for a carrier which can house a golf club bag and a set of golf clubs which can be readily and easily connected to a motor vehicle, the marketplace presently fails to supply the demand primarily because of the deficiencies noted and apparent in the carriers of the latter-identified patents.